﻿The Pile of Skulls

It’s July 2013. It’s a beautiful Sunday morning about 5:30am in Chandler, Arizona. I’m up gazing out our back window into our beautifully landscaped backyard, noticing the crystal clear blue water of our pool glistening in the rising sun. Everything is quiet and peaceful. The family is still sleeping. l feel compelled to walk out our back door. I turn toward the side of our house and walk over to the wall that separates our property from the canal on the other side. I find myself looking over the wall and when I do something very bizarre captures my eye. About 20 yards away from the wall appears to be skulls of some kind piled up on the ground.

I had just been over this wall and in that area recently and whatever I’m looking at wasn’t there before. Intrigued and wondering to myself if what I’m seeing is actually skulls, I scale the wall to the other side to find out.

As I walk toward them, I notice in front of me a flat, plain-looking stone embedded firmly in the ground. I’m a guy so I have to kick it. It doesn’t come loose. Being the competitor that I am, I kick it again, and I keep kicking it until it comes loose and flips over. Satisfied that I won, I commence walking toward the pile, and as I do, I glance at the stone and notice something out of the ordinary. There appear to be markings on its surface. So I pick it up, wipe off the dirt, and to my bewilderment, there appear to be 2 two-headed lizards painted in turquoise on the stone. We’ve only lived in Arizona for a little over a year so I wonder if finding something like this is a common occurrence here. I would later learn it isn’t. Below is a picture of the actual stone I kicked over.

I know nothing about antiquities or artifacts, but I have a peculiar feeling that this is from an ancient time period. It thrills and captivates me. I wonder what it could be, who made it, when it was made, and what, if anything, did it mean. I carry it with me as I walk over to the strange pile. Sure enough, there on the ground, in an organized pile, are about 30 skulls and jawbones of beasts. Some large, some medium size, and some the size of babies. Most have very sharp teeth. They’re all extremely old. There are no other bones of any kind anywhere else in the vicinity. No body bones, rib bones, nothing. I wonder how and when they got here, who put them here, and why.

As I’m wondering another thought interrupts me, “I wonder if there are more cool things over this wall.” I walk back to the small crater in the dirt left from the stone I kicked over. I reach down and start feeling around. There are a lot of dirt clods. I begin breaking them apart. I come to one that won’t break because something solid is in the middle. I break apart all the dirt I can and as if things couldn’t get more interesting out emerges what appears to be an arrowhead of some kind. Again, I know nothing about ancient artifacts, but once I clean it all up and do a quick internet search, I discover I’m right. Below is a picture of the actual arrowhead. Kicking over and finding this one stone (as well as finding my first arrowhead) would start me on a remarkable, extraordinary, and very dangerous adventure of fascinating learning and extraordinary discovery. Not only would I end up in life-threatening circumstances and places I never imagined, but there would be many more, heaps more, ancient artifacts and relics that I would unearth over that wall.

At the end of my last post, I stated, “the decision to take my first dose of this medication (Adderall)…, would ultimately and significantly contribute to the total demise of my entire life.”

If that is true, and it is, then discovering this one stone, with the 2 two-headed lizards on it, and the freakish expedition that followed would end up being one of the main causes of losing everything in my life, blowing our family to pieces, and permanently altering the course of our lives.

I would never learn how the pile of skulls ever got there or who put them there. Nothing ever like that shows up or happens again. But, if it wasn’t for that pile of skulls that appear out of nowhere, I never would have scaled that wall and kicked over that stone. And that one stone ended up having more power over me and the course of my life than addiction to stimulants ever did. Although, as you will come to find out, one would not have existed without the other.

How we would survive it all, save our family, and overcome seemingly impossible odds will prove to be nothing short of miraculous in every way.

Thank you Leslie for your comment. It means a lot! I still have a lot of unfinished business to take care of and people to make whole. I’m grateful for the patience and understanding of so many I let down.